Marshall still in doubt

Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor
TORONTO, Canada:

A SOMEWHAT strange co-incidence might well prevent key Jamaican defender Tyrone Marshall, from playing in tomorrow's World Cup qualifying match against Canada.

Call the man 'salt', but Marshall, who was scheduled to undergo a fitness test last night at the Jamaica team's training session at the St Michael's College School in Toronto, picked up a quadriceps injury that makes him doubtful for the match, in a play involving fellow Reggae Boy Omar Cummings.

"It's a tear, it happened last week in the match against Colorado," said Marshall.

"I was chasing down Omar (Cummings) and I felt something," Marshall said while relating the incident that led to his current state. "I felt it and I dropped."

That happened on Saturday, August 9, in a Major League Soccer match involving Marshall's Toronto FC and Cummings' Colorado Rapids.

Since then, the Reggae Boy has not played for his team but was hopeful he'd have healed in time for tomorrow's match, which marks the kick-off of the CONCACAF semi-final group play-offs.

Top-ranked country

Four teams are involved in Jamaica's Group Two, the other two being Mexico, the region's top-ranked country, and Honduras.

Marshall, who not only plays for the Toronto-based team but with several of the Canadian nationals, says he is looking forward to the game but does not want to take any unnecessary risks.

"I crossed my fingers, hoping it would heal," he said. "You want to play but at the same time you don't want to go out there and hurt yourself and the team. We have other World Cup qualifiers coming up."

He has had rest and physiotherapy since, but felt a twinge while warming up in club practice and was forced to miss Sunday's match against New York Red Bulls, which his side lost 2-0.

"He (Marshall) should come to training this evening for a final decision to be taken regarding his fitness," Dr Charles Roberts, the team's physician, said yesterday afternoon ahead of the night-time practice.

"At the moment he is supposed to be having physiotherapy with his club."

He says the determining fact would be " ... whether the level of discomfort is tolerable. But we will have to subject him to the test".

Dr Roberts, who examined the player on Sunday night, noted: "It is a partial tear which appears to be healing.

Rest time

"He got time to rest from his club, but he felt a little twinge when he first tried it after rest and his club decided to rest him from its game Sunday. It was not him declining to travel with the team. "Once he can manage, he is eager to come and try to play."

Fitness concerns contributed to striker Ricardo Fuller, who represents Stoke City in the English Premiership, not being summoned for the contest. He had been injured in the period leading into their opening fixture on Saturday against Bolton Wanderers, so Jamaica Football Federation technical director, Rene Simoes, admitted to not making the selection "to facilitate him".

Meanwhile, captain Ricardo Gardner, Ian Goodison, Deon Burton, Demar Phillips, Omar Cummings and Andrew Williams have joined the squad at its base at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel while the last remaining member, Luton Shelton, was due last night.

The team is slated to hold its final practice match tonight at the BMO Field in Toronto, where the match will be played tomorrow night. Kick-off is at 6:30 p.m. (Ja time).